In case you didn’t know, it is National Window Cleaning Week in Poland. I’m just kidding it is the week before Easter, but take a look around and you’ll see what I mean.
I remember my first Easter in Poland after starting to teach English in the City. Occasionally, I had cancellations and clusters of cancellations especially around holidays. But the explanations went something like this, “Chris, we have to cancel the lesson October 31st because nobody from our group will be at work. We have to travel to our family for November 1st (All Saint’s Day).” Ok, that’s reasonable.
Or something like this, “Chris, we’re cancelling our lessons on Christmas Eve and the days between Christmas and New Year’s. Nobody will be at work those 2 weeks. We’ll meet again the first week of January.” That sounds reasonable, too.
But my first Easter in Poland went something like this, “Chris, we have to cancel our lessons next week before Easter….”
Now I am expecting reasons such as shopping, cooking, traveling but not this,
“…because we have to clean our windows.”
Clean your windows? They are cancelling because they have to clean their windows. You’ve got to be pulling my leg, but then the next group canceled with the same excuse and another and another.
Wishing you sunny skies and time to clean your windows!
PS1
My windows will not be cleaned. I do not bow to the pressure of Polish society 😉
PS2
Is it wrong to simultaneously have Christmas decorations, Valentine’s Day decorations and Easter decorations hanging in your house at the same time?
21 Comments
Kasia
March 30, 2010 at 7:11 amI don't think it's sociological, it must be genetic 😉 I'm in Scotland and thinking that I have to clean my windows before Friday. Which is not going to happen cause the weather outside is (as usual) rubbish: sleet and the forecasts say snow. It makes me feel uncomfortable. 😉
michaszyj
March 30, 2010 at 7:21 amhehehehe this is so right:)clean windows mean that you're ready for easter:D so i'm not ready;) and i won't be;)
Chris
March 30, 2010 at 8:22 amOh Kasia….oh michaszyj….you'd better find time (and weather) to do it….OR YOU WON'T GET INTO HEAVEN! Insert evil laugh…
Stardust
March 30, 2010 at 11:37 amBoy, you right on target with this one!!! I am so happy that I don't have that pressure:)) Clean windows? Maybe sometimes in May? and that's only if Magnificent will clean them, otherwise, I don't give a shit:))) Now you know why I love to live in US:))) There is no window police here;))
AnetaCuse
March 30, 2010 at 1:43 pmI only became aware of the window washing craze once removed from it. However, I have a theory why it happens. Most houses in Poland are heated with coal, wood, or pellets and a lot of people also burn their garbage. This creates pollution that tends to stick to everything. If people abandoned religious window washing, it probably wouldn't be long before they couldn't see out of their windows… I haven't washed my windows in the US since I moved into my house nearly 5 years ago. Sure, they are a little dirty, but I just can't bring myself to wash them…
Stardust
March 30, 2010 at 1:56 pmAnetaCuse–> You right, honestly, the only window we clean is the patio door, because it gets dirty from grill. I have never thought about, but it makes sense. My other windows are fine, sure not crystal clear, but I don't care. I remember years ago, when I was looking for apartment and while talking to possible lanlord I said something about difficulty of washing windows, he just gave me a \”look\”:)))Now thinking about, I have never seen people hanging from the windows and cleaning them. And suprise!!! They look clean.
Kasia
March 30, 2010 at 3:05 pmAneta and Stardust – you must have very clean rains in the States :DEdinburgh's nick name used to be auld reekie, which means old smoky in Scots. Although people do not use their fireplaces that much anymore (there actually are fireplaces in most of the Victorian tenement houses, but nobody uses them as the open fire ones), it still is polluted enough to get your windows quite dirty. People do not hang from the windows though, cause traditionally most of the windows are sash windows and you can't wash them yourself – you have to get a cleaning service to do it. So no cleaning weeks here either! I have modern windows and we wash them probably once a year, which usually guarantees it's going to rain the next day. Contrary to common belief it does not rain in Scotland ALL the time ;)Chris – I don't mind going to hell, Lucifer must be a hottie 🙂
ucieczka
March 30, 2010 at 3:15 pmI have my blinds closed all the time (as I tend to think that my neighbours have nothing else to do but spy on me ;p ), and also my curtains closed. I really don't mind if my windows are dirty 😀
Robert Lamb
March 30, 2010 at 3:43 pmI wish we had that here in the US! ;-)www.window-masters.com
Chris
March 30, 2010 at 5:08 pmIn our apartment we have windows in every room which is nice but they are all skylights and too high up for me to clean. We don't have even one \”normal\” window. We used to have a cleaning lady who cleaned them TWICE A MONTH! She was awesome and then she went to England to work. Boohoooooo!In our housek in the village we have \”normal windows\” which I clean once a year…and last year I paid my sister-in-law to do it. It was money well spent. That reminds me that I should either clean them or ask her to do it.
heksita
March 31, 2010 at 5:05 pmWell, I cannot understand it either. I like clean windows, but I washed them about 3 weeks ago, when first warm days have came ;).
Kamenari
March 31, 2010 at 10:51 pmMy washing machine needed fixing. I've been quite busy recently so I asked my neighbour to stay at my flat while a service engineer was repairing the washing machine. Instead of watching TV or listening to music my dear neighbour cleaned my two windows. I wonder whether they were so dirty that I should have been embarrassed or she did it because of National Cleaning Window Week 😉
Chris
April 1, 2010 at 11:30 amThat is so sweet. Next time you should leave your neighbor in the kitchen with a lot of ingredients…maybe she'll whip you up dinner.This year our Easter preparation will not include window cleaning and unlike cynamonowe, we cannot remember the last time we cleaned them. (3 weeks ago definitely \”counts\” as still clean 🙂 There's just too much other dirty stuff that needs cleaning which takes priority over the windows. We also need to cook a little and make some fun decorations with the kids. And perhaps have a little bit of a rest, if I dare to dream.
Unknown
April 2, 2010 at 8:02 amWhat about Big House Cleaning every Saturday? After I moved out of Poland t took me couple of years to change that habit. Now I clean on Wednesdays 🙂
nielot
April 2, 2010 at 6:05 pmI do not bow to the pressure of Polish society, either. ;-/ I could even say, that I oppose to the Window Cleaning Week. The fact that I just hate cleaning anything might have something to do with this. Unfortunately, some time ago I had to clean a shedload of windows in three houses, as I used to clean houses for money. It hurt. And even more unfortunately, I just love having clean windows in my flat. But I'll get to them some time later.
Chris
April 2, 2010 at 7:58 pmBee- You are right about the Saturday cleaning here. And don't forget the Friday's fish.Nielot- I love clean windows, floors, everything too. If only I had a magic wand.
Tabdel
April 2, 2010 at 11:32 pmI love clean windows and clean house as well. I took this habit from Poland and I don't want to give up it. I feel better in clean environment hehehehe the small, the nice view ehhhh I JUST LOVE IT
Cornell
November 13, 2010 at 11:40 amI have been reading a lot of stuff about window cleaning, but it is different presented, i loved to read this. keep it up
Anonymous
March 26, 2015 at 2:29 pmcompletely love this! one landlord told us that she would hire the window cleaners for us—and they charged us such a crazy amount, we think we paid for their windows to be cleaned, too. (we lived in a duplex next to them)needless to say, the next year when she told us we had to hire someone we told her NO WAY…it wasn't part of the contract :)HAHA! LOVED this post!
Chris
March 28, 2015 at 3:09 pmHi. A lot of people hire someone especially to do their windows here. It takes me a hour, hardly worth hiring somebody. I think we'll join you in skipping the whole window charade this year. Better to spend that time with the fam.
A secular Easter czyli Wielkanoc bez Jezusa - Kielbasa Stories
January 6, 2021 at 10:39 am[…] Easter Sunday. We cook a lot of eggs and cakes and decorate the house for spring. Sometimes we even clean the windows. Most importantly we spend time […]